Would a Fitbit work for me?

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Swiftdogs
Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've looked at the Fitbit site, but it doesn't specify exactly what it does or how it works. I'm trying to decide if it would help me. I'm a financial analyst, so I signed up as Sedentary. But I show dogs, so my time away from work is quite active. My "exercise," especially on show weekends, doesn't translate easily to what MFP has in the database. I've tried to use slow pace walking and a few other things as conservative estimates. Would a Fitbit give me a better indication? It couldn't know the difference between hauling my cart with several hundred pounds of equipment versus walking to the bathroom, and I suspect it wouldn't record anything for grooming time. But does it generally give a reasonable measure of activity? I'd appreciate advice from those of you who use the little gizmo.
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Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    It's a great little tool for things like that, except for knowing how much you're carrying. It gives a pretty accurate count if you only do things like walking and it's a great motivator to move more during the day. I just have the Zip which I clip onto my bra so it isn't out there yelling "Look at me" and it tracks steps, calories, distance and time. I don't care about my sleep or how many stairs I went up so it works fine.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
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    I would highly recommend the Fitbit to measure your activity. Like you said, it wouldn't know how much weight you are pulling and so on, but would give you a good guide as to your general level of activity. I have the Fitbit One and love it! Have worn it constantly for 10 months and find its calorie estimates to be extremely accurate personally.

    Edited for grammatical error! :grumble:
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I have the Fitbit One.

    It's basically a glorified pedometer with some added capability, so it's not going to know the difference if you're carrying weight or not, just going down the hall to the restroom or hauling a cart with 100 pounds of equipment. It doesn't know the difference - it only knows that you've moved from one place to another.

    I bought mine during the summer and I was walking outside several times a week so it was a good tool for me. Now that our days are getting shorter I'll be moving into the gym so it will be interesting to see how the Fitbit monitors that activity. I'll be keeping an eye of how it tracks the treadmill, and I also do some stationary cycling. Some have suggested putting the Fitbit in your sock for the cycling so I'll try that.
  • TXBlonde81
    TXBlonde81 Posts: 78 Member
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    I think a heart rate monitor might be more useful as a fitbit would just track your steps but not how much you are exerting yourself. You would need a cell phone app though so you can start and stop your exercise time. Not sure how that would work in the show ring but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem.
  • Cre8veLifeR
    Cre8veLifeR Posts: 1,062 Member
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    As an analyst I think you would especially enjoy the fitbit! It keeps track of steps, calories, stairs climbed and sleep (if you get that one) and it automatically logs it online so you can see how far you walk, climb etc. I loved mine. (I lost/broke 3 of them so hubby won't let me get another one lol) -- I recommend it! It motivated me a lot.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    I think a heart rate monitor might be more useful as a fitbit would just track your steps but not how much you are exerting yourself. You would need a cell phone app though so you can start and stop your exercise time. Not sure how that would work in the show ring but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem.

    A HRM won't work for the things she's describing. HRM's are set up for steady state cardio with a significantly raised heart rate for an extended period of time. Things like running, cycling, aerobics class, etc.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
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    Thanks for the insights! I just ordered the Zip. I'm not concerned about how I sleep, and want to be able to hide it on a waistband or bra. I walk on a treadmill at work, so that will be a good check. I don't mind if it underestimates some effort. It's the full day of high activity that I want to track.
  • horselo285
    horselo285 Posts: 20 Member
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    Fitbits are great to let you know how much you are moving, or not moving as the case may be. That way you can set a goal for yourself and try to fit in the extra steps to meet it. Every step counts! :)
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    You'll love it! I would replace mine in a flash if I needed to. Keeps you focused, makes you push yourself a bit further and really does take a lot of the guess work out of exercise calories. Mine is even accurate for what I do in the gym.
  • charltonspinney
    charltonspinney Posts: 33 Member
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    Wow , this is my kind of thread!

    My Brother in law has been doing MFP for over a year with a fitbit , and has lost 5 /& a 1/2 stone , i have been doing MFP for a year without a Fitbit , i've lost 4 & a 1/2 stone.

    My wife got a Fitbit in September for her Birthday , and i have been eager to see her progress.

    I bit the bullet and got one as an early Birthday present , and it has encouraged me to do so much walking its untrue!

    I've walked to work and back 3 times this week rather than use the car , its nearly 3 miles to my workplace , and i've been averaging 7-8 miles walked a day , fantastic bit of kit , would highly recommend ( I've got the Fitbit one).
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    Wow , this is my kind of thread!

    My Brother in law has been doing MFP for over a year with a fitbit , and has lost 5 /& a 1/2 stone , i have been doing MFP for a year without a Fitbit , i've lost 4 & a 1/2 stone.

    My wife got a Fitbit in September for her Birthday , and i have been eager to see her progress.

    I bit the bullet and got one as an early Birthday present , and it has encouraged me to do so much walking its untrue!

    I've walked to work and back 3 times this week rather than use the car , its nearly 3 miles to my workplace , and i've been averaging 7-8 miles walked a day , fantastic bit of kit , would highly recommend ( I've got the Fitbit one).


    Well done! I had mine as my 20lbs lost reward. Your birthday gift will hopefully buy you many more 'extra' birthdays to come!
  • NewGoalsInMind
    NewGoalsInMind Posts: 68
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    I've looked at the Fitbit site, but it doesn't specify exactly what it does or how it works. I'm trying to decide if it would help me. I'm a financial analyst, so I signed up as Sedentary. But I show dogs, so my time away from work is quite active. My "exercise," especially on show weekends, doesn't translate easily to what MFP has in the database. I've tried to use slow pace walking and a few other things as conservative estimates. Would a Fitbit give me a better indication? It couldn't know the difference between hauling my cart with several hundred pounds of equipment versus walking to the bathroom, and I suspect it wouldn't record anything for grooming time. But does it generally give a reasonable measure of activity? I'd appreciate advice from those of you who use the little gizmo.

    Thanks for posting this!! Seems like the FitBit One is the way to go and I just decided to get one thanks to the information obtained here. : )
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
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    Another ballot in the Fitbit hat. As with all home devices (including HRMs) you can't rely 100% on its tracking, but it *does* add a ton of data that you wouldn't have without a similar device. I use a fitbit One all day every day. I used to use it to track sleep, but not so much any more. I set my own goals for the various metrics it measures and I try to exceed the daily and weekly variants. I use a HRM / GPS for some things (TomTom MultiSport) and love it as well.

    I'm not suggesting that you're going to be able to fine-tune your calorie burn to within 50 kcal or something... but more data is better. Mainly I just like to see myself dominating the competitive section of my friends list. That is, until I added one of my MFP buddies to my fitbit FL... now I have to do even more to keep up with him. It's good times.
  • amiclvrt
    amiclvrt Posts: 27
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    I agree with everyone. I bought a Fitbit Flex about 6 weeks ago and link it to MFP. I work in an office setting and I was SHOCKED at how much I was not moving during the day! (Is there a level below sedentary, kind of not moving around!!) Now I get up from my desk every hour and walk around; averaging around 5K steps during the day, which is a HUGE improvement.

    I have some work friends who have bought them and now we are "cheering" each other and it's turning into quite a little competition. :smile:

    I work out 5x a week at the gym too and track all non-walking exercise through MFP. But the Fitbit has really encouraged me to just move more during my regular day and it really adds up!
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    When you get it, sign up for earndit.com too! It'll sync with your Fitbit and give you points for steps taken which you can use for free rewards (even charity donations.) it's free and awesome!
  • h_jeffrey
    h_jeffrey Posts: 23 Member
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    I've looked at the Fitbit site, but it doesn't specify exactly what it does or how it works. I'm trying to decide if it would help me. I'm a financial analyst, so I signed up as Sedentary. But I show dogs, so my time away from work is quite active. My "exercise," especially on show weekends, doesn't translate easily to what MFP has in the database. I've tried to use slow pace walking and a few other things as conservative estimates. Would a Fitbit give me a better indication? It couldn't know the difference between hauling my cart with several hundred pounds of equipment versus walking to the bathroom, and I suspect it wouldn't record anything for grooming time. But does it generally give a reasonable measure of activity? I'd appreciate advice from those of you who use the little gizmo.

    I've had the One for a week and I'm hooked! I'm an accountant, so the data aspect just appeals to my slightly OCD personality. :blushing: I find myself getting up to move more at work, simply to make those steps tick up! I even use the rest room on the 1st floor (my office is on the 2nd) so that I can get my 10 floors a day.

    I also used to show dogs, so I know the "show weekend" activity quite well. You'll love the Fitbit for that. Like others have said, it won't distinguish between a walk to the restroom and a walk hauling crates and grooming equipment, but it'll definitely give you an idea of just how active those weekends are and adjust your calories accordingly!

    It links very nicely with MFP, too. I log all food and intentional activity on MFP, making sure to enter the time started for any intentional activity. Your allotted calories between the two apps will vary over the course of the day but by the end of the day they are usually spot on (+/- a few calories).

    Good luck and enjoy!
  • granniegreenow
    granniegreenow Posts: 7 Member
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    Fitbit Flex for me. I have been wearing mine since August and I love the feed back it gives me. Especially the sleep mode I am getting so much more than I realised. :-) It's on my wrist and only 2 people have asked me "what is that?" so not very noticeable. I bought the Flex because I have lost so many pedometers, the Flex has a really strong clip. Goos luck!
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,001 Member
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    I've been wearing my omron pedometer around, and it definitely helps keep me moving. I just put the fitbit flex on my xmas wishlist cause sometimes a girl wants to wear a dress and not pants, ya know. :smile:
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Fitbit Flex for me. I have been wearing mine since August and I love the feed back it gives me. Especially the sleep mode I am getting so much more than I realised. :-) It's on my wrist and only 2 people have asked me "what is that?" so not very noticeable. I bought the Flex because I have lost so many pedometers, the Flex has a really strong clip. Goos luck!

    Yup, until I knew what it was I would've just assumed it was a trendy bracelet. I want the black one. I'll have to stack it with those leather wrist wrap bracelets. :wink:
  • karenh3585
    karenh3585 Posts: 27 Member
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    I have the FitBit One and love it. I wear it daily and have it sync'ed to MFP and my Samsung S4. I log my time at yoga & pilates as manual entries into MFP and the FitBit will enter an adjustment to those numbers (-/+). When you get your FitBit, I'd suggest going into your MFP settings and allowing 'negative entries' since I believe the FitBit is more accurate than the MFP numbers.

    I also enjoy getting the weekly emails from FItBit -- I never would've realized that I walked almost 50K steps / 20 miles, climbed 105 flights of stairs, and burned over 13K calories last week! Talk about motivation!!

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